Shadow Education Secretary Resigns From Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet

Shadow Education Secretary Resigns From Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet

Shadow Education Secretary, Lucy Powell, has resigned from the Shadow Cabinet led by Jeremy Corbyn.

Despite having been in the job for less than a year, she made a good impression on many people in the education sector. Facing a government struggling to deal with teacher shortages, exam reform and squeezed school budgets, Powell was not shy to challenge ministers and policies.

Ms Powell writes:

We have forced the Government to drop their detrimental plans to force all good and outstanding schools to become academies.

I have challenged the government on their failure to recruit enough teachers, their failure on school place planning and highlighted the huge budget pressures schools are now facing.

The MP’s resignation letter makes it clear that her decision is a protest against Labour’s leader, Jeremy Corbyn. She wrote that his leadership of the party was “untenable” and that he was “unable to command the support” of the cabinet and country.

Since Thursday’s Brexit vote, a wave of senior Labour Party figures have resigned – calling on their leader to quit.